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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768056">I need some satisfaction</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallflow3r/pseuds/wallflow3r'>wallflow3r</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All In Tangles [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Face-Sitting, Fluff, Gratuitous Smut, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Multi, Polyamory, Pregnant Sex, UBFLSPRING20, Ultimate Bethyl Fic List Spring Event: Regrowth, bethyl, feelings with porn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:40:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallflow3r/pseuds/wallflow3r</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl is freaking out, silently, and from a distance, but that’s what he’s doing. So Beth decides it’s time for him to come to his senses, and she’s more than happy to help him get there.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene, Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene/Rick Grimes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All In Tangles [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1028594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I need some satisfaction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know that <i>technically</i> this is set in my Brickyl universe, but I wrote it with the Bethyl Spring Event: Regrowth in mind. </p><p>All of the sex is between Beth and Daryl; Rick is only referenced briefly. </p><p>I hope you enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Turning the water off before it runs cold, Beth carefully steps out of the shower and grabs a towel. She takes a moment to look at herself in the bathroom mirror as she starts towelling her hair from dripping to damp.</p><p>Wrapped in long jumpers and thick cardigans, Beth hasn't started showing yet, but underneath the layers of cotton and wool, it's a different story.</p><p>Even through the condensation fogging the mirror, she can clearly see her once almost flat chest has grown round, tender nipples a darker shade of rose, and below her pinched waist, now sits a perfectly round bump.</p><p>Her fingers absently trace the firm surface of her swollen abdomen, marvelling at her changing body  and the life that has taken root in her ever expanding uterus.</p><p>The reality of what is happening inside her is suddenly becoming a lot harder to hide, from their family, their community, and <em> themselves.  </em></p><p>Rick suggested that they make the journey to Hilltop to see the doctor there, check everything is ok with the baby, and find out how far along Beth is. </p><p>But Beth already knows. She’ll never forget the night, sixteen weeks and three days ago, when Rick and Daryl both came inside her <em> at the same time, </em> and in the morning she knew, she just knew, they had made the baby she had always wanted, and that night would be truly unforgettable for the rest of their lives. </p><p>The thought of seeing her sister after all these months apart and having to tell her that she’s knocked up with two baby daddies makes Beth feel a little nauseous. But maybe that's just the poorly named morning sickness which she feels well into the afternoon. She isn’t sure if Maggie is going to give her a hug, an earful, or start shooting when she finds out. </p><p>But Maggie can wait. The whole world, whatever's left of it, can wait. </p><p>She’s worried about Daryl. </p><p>He hasn’t been inside her since they found out she was pregnant, the three of them gathered around a white stick for the second time. He hasn’t touched her <em> at all </em>since she started showing, previously flat stomach growing rounder by the day. She misses him. God, she misses him. His rough hands, his thick cock; slotting inside her perfectly like the missing piece of a puzzle. </p><p>She knows he's scared. After Lori, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t at least a little scared of what will happen in about four months time.</p><p>But he wanted this. Or at least he wanted to <em> give this to her.  </em></p><p>Only it turns out, wanting something and having it are two very different things.</p><p>Because now that it's happening he's freaking out. Silently, and from a distance, but that’s what he’s doing. He put a baby in her and he doesn't know how to keep her safe anymore.  He doesn't know how to protect her from all the possible risks that come with pregnancy and childbirth. Even little things, like taking prenatal vitamins, aren’t easy in the world they live in now. He can’t just pop along to the drug store. Or drive her to the hospital when she feels an unfamiliar twinge. </p><p>So, he’s doing the one thing he can do. He’s going out hunting, spending more time outside of Alexandria’s walls than inside them<em> , </em> making sure there’s always fresh meat to eat. <em> For the baby. </em> Beth gets it; he's <em> doing something</em>. He’s doing the only thing he knows how to do; he’s providing. </p><p>Maybe it’s selfish, but Beth doesn't care what's on her plate, she cares who's in her bed. </p><p>And who decidedly is not. </p><p>She feels his absence, and she knows Rick does too, as they spend their nights just the two of them, Rick fucking her if she’s in the mood, or just holding her if she’s not. </p><p>It's just not the same without Daryl there. </p><p>But it's not the same when he is either.</p><p>He's skittish, vibrating with nervous energy and lingering behind Rick, almost like he's <em> scared </em> of her, afraid to touch her changing body, strange and familiar to him at the same time. </p><p>Rick looks like he wants to tear himself in two; to comfort the both of them, or knock their heads together. </p><p>But it isn't the absence of physical contact that hurts, although she misses it something serious, it's the way he looks at her now. </p><p>It’s the way Daryl stares at her swollen belly like it's a walker bite. Maybe that's how he sees it; something fatal, <em> a death sentence.  </em></p><p>It’s the guilt in his gaze, as though he blames himself for all the possible and imagined risks she’s facing. Of course he does, it's <em> Daryl</em>, if he isn't giving himself a hard time about something he probably isn't conscious.</p><p>Beth turns to the side and strokes her hands down her naked bump.</p><p>Sometimes her body doesn't feel like hers anymore. But that's not what scares her, what scares her is that <em> Daryl </em> doesn't feel like hers anymore. It makes her wonder if he ever was.</p><p><em> No</em>. </p><p>She can't let herself think that way. She knows that isn't true. They belong to each other. That's what she <em> knows</em>. And the baby growing in her belly means they always will. That isn't what's got him spooked though, because she already knew Daryl would be by her side forever, whether he was <em> obliged </em>to be or not. No, what's got him spooked is that she might not be there to stand beside. </p><p><em> Oh</em>.</p><p>Suddenly it dawns on Beth that Daryl's pulling away isn't about the baby, not really. It's about <em> her</em>. </p><p>He's pulling away because he's scared he could lose her. He's bowing his head in preparation for the blow he fears will inevitably come. Because when in his life have things turned out for the better? </p><p>They're all used to loss now, it's something they live with, something they make room for. But this would be different. This would be losing something that makes you feel whole. </p><p>She won’t let him pull away. She won’t let him create the loss he fears. Because sometimes, not always, things do turn out for the better. The three of them together is proof of that. She still has faith, even if this world makes it spin like a weather vane sometimes. She still has faith, because what else is there? </p><p>She thinks about talking to Rick, seeing as how he knows Daryl better than Daryl knows himself. </p><p>But she knows Daryl too, and she knows that sometimes he needs a little push, someone to remind him who he really is. </p><p>He's her<em> lover, </em> above all else, and she isn't about to let him forget it. </p><p>Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Beth wraps a fresh towel around her chest and walks out of the bathroom. She quickly pads her way down the landing until she reaches the door at the end.</p><p><em> Daryl's room. </em> It just feels wrong thinking of this unfamiliar space as <em> his </em> room. He's never even slept in it until recently, when he started avoiding her. He’d always slept on the porch until Rick coaxed him into his bed. </p><p>As quiet as a mouse, she opens the door and slips inside.</p><p>The breath she's unconsciously holding pours out of her when she sees him on the bed; sprawled out on his back, shirt discarded on the floor, jeans slung low on his hips. </p><p>Her eyes graze his jutting hip bones and travel up his broad chest as it rises and falls in a steady rhythm before they settle on his face. </p><p>Even in sleep his brow is furrowed, jaw tight like he’s been grinding his teeth. His hair is wild and strewn across his forehead, messier than it usually is without her fingers to comb through it each night.</p><p>She lets the towel slip to the floor and tip toes to the foot of the bed. Daryl is flat out from the three day hunt he just got back from, but he's been in bed all day and Beth knows that's more than enough rest for him to regain his strength. He's going to need it for what Beth has in mind.</p><p>As she climbs up onto the bed, her nose is filled with the familiar smell of sweat and dirt, leather and trees. He hasn't showered and she's glad of that; she wants to cover herself in him, dirt and all.</p><p>Carefully, she stalks her way up the mattress as he starts to stir and crawls across his vast chest until her knees are either side of his head.</p><p>Despite probably sensing her from the moment she walked in the room, he only wakes when she sits on his sternum, not from the scarce weight of her, but from the warm and wet sensations on his bare skin. </p><p>Even just the sight of him, broad and bare and beautiful, has her hot and getting wetter with each passing second. </p><p>He inhales sharply, scenting her arousal, and Beth watches his hooded eyes snap open as they rapidly focus in on the sight in front of him.</p><p>Not that he would care, but she shaved for him in the shower. She wants to feel as much of him as possible.   </p><p>His gaze drifts up, freezing for a moment as it catches on the swell of her abdomen, before flicking up to her face.</p><p>He doesn't look scared, which is good, he seems more confused than anything, still half asleep, and that's <em> good </em>because she can clarify the situation for him. </p><p>"Thought you might be hungry when you woke up, so I brought you somethin’ to eat," She says, the corners of her mouth curling up as she feels the breath shudder out of him beneath her. </p><p>Daryl's eyes flare back at her, pupils pooling to black, before dropping like a lead weight to the sight of her clit already pink and swollen as she spreads herself a little wider for him. </p><p>He swallows thickly and his tongue slides out to push the saliva back in his mouth before dragging his gaze back up to hers.</p><p>Any trace of confusion is gone, replaced by pure unfiltered lust, blue eyes swimming in need. Her heart rate quickens knowing he still wants her the way that she wants him as she sees her own need mirrored back in his flushed face and the darkening pools of his gaze. </p><p>When his hands come up to curl around the backs of her thighs she almost sobs, a wave of relief coursing through her from root to tip.</p><p>Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he turns his head to the side and presses a kiss to her inner thigh. </p><p>Her eyes prick with hot tears and she wants to cry with sheer <em> joy,</em> but she catches herself. Thank God, because that would really send Daryl over the edge. </p><p>Instead she bites her lip and lets her eyes fall closed as she feels that joy - endorphins, <em> hormones, </em>whatever- spread hot and fast through her body.</p><p>Her clit pulses with every scratch of his beard and she’s already fast unravelling before he’s even really touched her.</p><p>She's never understood how he can make her feel this way - but the old saying absence makes the heart grow fonder must be true because she feels electrified from the barest of touches. </p><p>The feel of his breath on her skin opens her eyes. Looking down, she strokes his hair away from his forehead so that she can see his eyes, really see the way he's looking at her, and the heat she finds there makes her hips shudder in response. </p><p>He presses another kiss to her inner thigh, and another, hot and wet as he edges closer to the space between them. </p><p>Beth's heart is flying in her chest when he stops, still inches away and exhales hard against her skin before turning his head. She hears him drag in a ragged breath, feels his chest expand beneath her, as he stares at her throbbing lips parted and glistening in front of him. Her walls flex with anticipation and she knows he sees it when his breath catches.</p><p>The heat of his eyes is like a physical caress and she feels a bead of hot liquid escape from her entrance and trickle down her slit to land on his chest.</p><p>The next thing Beth knows is his hands hooking around the backs of her knees and her clit colliding with his open mouth as he yanks her forward and buries his face between her thighs. </p><p>He laps up the fresh liquid coating her outer lips, tearing a startled gasp from her throat, before delving deeper into her folds as he licks her clean. </p><p>The onslaught of his tongue has Beth writhing above him, her gasp twisting into a moan as his hands slide around to cup her ass, fighting to keep her flush against his mouth as he nuzzles deeper into her centre like he doesn't need to breathe, or will happily forgo doing so just get a little closer.</p><p>With his big hands pulling her forwards as he pushes deeper in, he licks in and out of her folds eagerly, chasing her taste and she rewards him with another squirt of liquid lust. He moans as the evidence of her arousal pools on his tongue, savouring it for a moment before drinking it down with an obscene sucking sound. </p><p>Her already swollen clit screams as his moan rumbles dangerously through her walls, hand fisting in his hair so hard it must be painful and he responds by groaning so deeply she feels it in the back of her teeth. </p><p>Listening to the language of her body, he mouths his way up to her pulsing clit and sucks the swollen nub into his mouth.</p><p>“<em>Daryl, </em>” She gasps, thighs clamping around his ears as heat pours down the back of her trembling thighs. </p><p>She reaches out and grabs the headboard to steady herself as Daryl releases her clit with a grunt<em> , </em> leaves her hood throbbing with relief and returns his attention to the tight wet heat of her entrance. </p><p>Beth came in here to reclaim her man, but she isn't sure who is claiming who when Daryl starts to suck her soul out through her cunt.</p><p>Nose deep inside her, he’s half drunk on the liquid that's pouring out of her and down his throat, coaxing more from her with every reverberation of his soft lips and lick of his hot tongue. </p><p>Using the headboard for balance, Beth rocks forward and rides his face. She feels him groan inside her and it only makes her ride him harder. Her movements become more frenzied, hips taking on a life of their own, and she sends up a prayer she won’t have to explain to Rick that she accidentally smothered Daryl with her pussy because she <em> couldn’t stop.  </em></p><p>Her fingers curl in a white knuckle grip, thighs clenching tighter around his ears, but he doesn’t seem to mind it, fingers digging into her ass and holding her in place.</p><p>His hot tongue swirls and her body ripples as hot waves of pleasure crash through her. </p><p>She flexes her inner walls, squeezing them around his tongue like she would his cock, and she doesn’t hear it, she <em> feels </em> him howl inside her. </p><p>“Oh mother of <em> God</em>,” She cries high and breathless towards the ceiling as the rhythm of her canting hips falters. </p><p>Spreading her thighs until they ache, Beth arches her back and grinds down on his face. Her movements as rough and desperate as his tongue, lapping at her juices even as her walls tremble around him.</p><p>He slides a hand around to thumb her clit at the same moment his questing tongue swirls inside her <em> just right </em>and she keens as she starts to come, pitch ascending rapidly as she doesn’t stop coming. </p><p>Beth holds the headboard for dear life, momentarily alarmed by her body’s reaction, heart rabbiting in her chest and walls fluttering around his tongue as she gushes into his open mouth. The hum Daryl makes against her lips is so low it’s almost a purr as he devours every last drop.</p><p>Her brain short circuits from stimulation overload and the next thing she knows is Daryl’s hands are sliding up to her trembling hips and lifting her off his face like she weighs nothing at all. He eases her back onto his chest and she feels herself sway, though from the choppy rhythm of his inhales or reeling from the aftershocks of her orgasm she isn’t sure.</p><p>But before either of them can catch their breath, Beth turns and slides down his body in search of his dick so that she can sit on that too. </p><p>He’s harder than she’s ever seen him, swollen and red and straining in front of her with pre-cum weeping from the tip. </p><p>Seeing how close he is to coming, to coming <em> untouched, </em> and knowing he’s that aroused from having her sit on his face and <em> not even touch him </em>, makes Beth’s clit ache all over again. She thinks she could come again just from seeing him this hard and knowing it’s all for her. </p><p>Pushing up on her knees, she wraps her slim fingers around the base of cock, feels the familiar weight of it in her palm and the tickle of his coarse public hair against her hand, hears the sharp hiss that’s pulled from behind his teeth at the welcome contact. </p><p>She wastes no time in pulling his dick towards her so she can climb on it and give him the sweet relief he needs from her.</p><p>Guiding him through her swollen folds, still pulsing from his attention, she lowers herself down onto his cock, moaning as his head pushes past her entrance with a pop, and then she’s sliding down taking every inch he has to give her until he’s buried to the hilt inside her. <em> Where he belongs.  </em></p><p>Even with how wet she is from his mouth and how much she wants him, the pressure she feels as his cock squeezes inside her tight walls is sweet agony. She feels herself stretch on just the right side of pain like it was the first time. He's so big and reaches so deep, her body thrums with complete satisfaction as she reacquaints herself with his dick.</p><p>She can't see his face with her back to him like this, but she hears his low moan vibrate in her ears, and it’s filled with the same satisfaction that she feels in her bones. </p><p>As he disappears inside her, his hands come up to wrap around her hips and curl into the familiar edges of her body.</p><p>They start to move together, finding the familiar push and pull of their bodies. He lifts her up and down his cock with ease, causing her to bounce a little each time he thrusts up to meet her and they slam together. </p><p>
  <em> Yes. Finally. This is where we belong.  </em>
</p><p>He must feel the same because soon he's railing her from underneath, fucking up into her with enough force to make her clit sing again, or maybe it never stopped. </p><p>She rides the rhythm of his hips as though she were riding an unbroken horse, leaning into his thrusts to keep herself steady, even as his hands wrap around her hips to do the same. </p><p>He's so strong; stomach muscles tightening under her ass as he pistons in and out of her.</p><p>
  <em> This is what he's scared of. Of losing control when he loses himself in her. That he might hurt her. Or the baby.  </em>
</p><p>But there's no part of him that isn't aware of her; hot palms curling around the tops of her thighs to spread her wider, to bring them closer until she doesn't know where he ends and she begins; they're just a blur of moving parts as she rides the wave of his rippling body.</p><p>"Beth<em>," </em> He moans, " <em> Beth</em>."</p><p>Her name pours out of him over and over, caught somewhere between broken and reborn.</p><p>He’s so far gone, he's holding on to her like she's a lifeline, thick fingers curled around her skin with a sense of need that transcends the physical.</p><p>From behind Beth is unchanged, the same cascading blonde hair catching light from somewhere, the same curves and edges that Daryl knows so well, allowing him the grace to forget their changing lives for a moment. </p><p>She wants to turn around and look at him, to see his face and show him hers, but somehow she thinks this is easier, for now. To get lost in something <em> known</em>, in the way that their bodies slot together so easily as though they were meant to be one. </p><p>That somehow if he was looking at her face, and at the evidence of the life they've made, <em> the life they could lose, </em>the fear might creep back in through the cracks.</p><p>Instead, she covers his hands with her own and clutches him with her inner walls until his moans no longer resemble her name. </p><p>She pulls his orgasm from him with all the force of an exorcism. All the tension that’s been building for months finally pours out of him and into her all at once. His cock bursts inside her and it’s the feel of his come painting her insides with white heat that has her coming again, even harder and louder than before. </p><p>Loud is the low moan that pours out of her, so loud she has half a mind to risk braining herself on the headboard by bringing a hand up to clamp over her mouth. Except no, she wants him to hear her, she wants him to know how good he is. And he is, he's so good.</p><p>With all of the tension stripped from his body, Daryl melts back into the mattress as his bones turn to liquid. Beth slides backwards off his dick, slipping across his stomach in the combined come that’s dripping out of her. He makes a sound, almost a whimper, as his cock falls out of her and his hands flatten on her skin, trying to touch as much of her as possible. </p><p>Turning in his hands, at last she can see his face and there's gratitude in his eyes chasing away all the fear he's been drowning in.</p><p>As she climbs down onto the mattress next to him, his arms wrap around her waist and pull her flush against him so that he can bury his face in the cradle of her shoulder. </p><p>He takes a deep breath, inhaling the sweat on her skin and tickling the nape of her neck with his beard. Her eyes flutter closed and she nestles backwards into the pounding heat of his chest.</p><p>As they lie there synchronising their descending heart rates, his huge chest at her back and his thick fingers spanning her entire waist; that's when it happens.</p><p>Shifting to curl his body around hers, Daryl’s hand drifts down a few inches to Beth’s swollen belly. Almost instantly, she feels something happen under the weight of his palm. A movement. They both freeze, hearts hammering as they hold their breaths. Listening for a feeling. It happens again, harder, undeniable this time, almost like a knock. A kick. <em> Or a punch. </em></p><p>Daryl's hand twitches but it doesn't move away.</p><p>Turning her head to catch his eyes, Beth finds them bright with awe like her own.</p><p>Her round belly spasms again under the heat of his palm.</p><p>"<em>Daryl, </em>" Beth gasps, joy splitting her face wide open, "The baby's kicking!"</p><p>He stares back at her and then down at her belly. </p><p>"This ain't happened before?" Daryl asks, his surprise evident in his slack face. </p><p>"No, that's the first time," She says softly, watching as he strokes his hand across her skin experimentally. </p><p>His fingers bounce with another, stronger kick and they both laugh breathlessly.</p><p>"She's sayin' hello," Beth grins.</p><p>His eyes dart up to catch hers, "She?"</p><p>Beth shrugs a little sheepishly.</p><p>"Just a feelin'."</p><p>The corner of Daryl's mouth pulls up and his eyes drop back down to where his hand is spanned over her belly. Beth doesn't miss the way his eyes are a little brighter. <em> He's smiling. </em> </p><p>She's smiling too, so much that her cheeks are starting to ache, but she can't stop her smile from growing even bigger the longer she looks at him. </p><p>The little life inside of Beth jumps under Daryl's outstretched fingers and this time both corners of his mouth curl up. </p><p>"Damn, she's gonna be a real wild child ain’t she," He murmurs, stroking his hand towards the movement. Beth feels the heat of his rough palm on her skin but she can't tear her eyes away from the look of awe and wonder on his face. </p><p>"Like her mama," He adds, hot blue eyes flicking up to hold hers.</p><p><em> Mama. I’m going to be someone’s Mama. </em>Beth’s heart squeezes a little; it’s the first time anyone’s ever called her that. </p><p>"Her daddy's the wild one," Beth counters playfully. </p><p>First his eyes narrow into icy slits back at her, then Daryl looks away, jaw pulling tight with tension that Beth feels creeping into the space between them. The change in atmosphere is sudden and jarring. </p><p>"What is it?" Beth presses as she watches him withdraw into himself.</p><p>He doesn’t look at her. Lets his hand drop from her belly and frowns into his empty palm. </p><p>"Do you think she's mine?" He asks quietly. </p><p><em> That's a loaded question. </em>He's been picking at himself all week and now all his insecurities are right on the surface. She'll need to tread carefully to avoid stepping on any open nerves. </p><p>Turning her body so that she can face him, she tries, and <em> fails, </em> to catch his trembling gaze. </p><p>"I know she's <em> ours,</em>" She says, hoping she sounds as certain as she feels about that, that her voice doesn't strain under the weight of all this. </p><p>Because it really doesn't matter whose DNA this baby is made from; that's not what family means anymore (and maybe redefining what it means to be a family is <em> exactly </em> what Daryl needs, considering his own upbringing has left him so deeply afraid of loving and being loved.) </p><p>She's seen the scars on his back and knows the real damage lies underneath. What took one cruel minute to put onto his skin will take a lifetime to heal. But maybe in time some of the pain that's built into his foundations will fade along with the marks on his skin, and be replaced with something good. </p><p>Time is something she can give him at least, and she gives that to him now. She doesn’t rush him, as anxious as she is for some kind of sign that he’s ok, that they’re ok, she just waits.</p><p>Daryl bites the inside of his lip, but she doesn't think he's holding back what he wants to say so much as wrestling with the demons that make something like having a baby fill him with fear instead of joy. </p><p>There's so much he's not sure of, so many things that are normal to other people, but have never felt normal to Daryl. </p><p>He's not sure how to be a father. He doesn't want to be anything like his own, she knows that much, and he isn't, she knows that too. </p><p>He's not sure what his role is in all of this, or what's expected of him. None of them do, but it weighs heaviest on Daryl. He's so perpetually scared of doing the wrong thing, a residual effect of his childhood trauma that Beth and Rick have tried to draw out of him with reassurance, but still it lingers.</p><p>He's not sure what <em> she </em> wants from him.</p><p><em> Just him. </em> That's all Beth wants.</p><p>He blinks as he comes back from wherever his mind took him, nowhere nice Beth fears, and nods back at her. </p><p>“Yeah,” He murmurs, "Yeah, I know." </p><p>His eyes have found stillness and she thinks even if he doesn't completely believe her yet, he wants to, and that's enough for now. </p><p>"I wish my daddy could see this," Beth smiles wanly. </p><p>"This?" Daryl looks mildly alarmed. </p><p>"No," She laughs and bats at his bare chest, all streaked and tacky with her come. <em>Definitely not this. </em></p><p>He catches her hand and keeps it there, wrapping his thick fingers around hers.</p><p>"How we're puttin' down roots here," She continues, her other hand absently trailing across her bump, "Growin' a family." </p><p>Beth smiles, feels the sudden urge to laugh, and shakes her head in disbelief. <em> Never thought I’d be a mama in all this.  </em></p><p>"Sometimes you just need to have a little faith," She says, curling one hand around Daryl's and the other around the curve of her stomach.</p><p>She directs the words towards her navel but the affirmation is for herself. For them both, maybe. A reminder of a lesson from her own childhood that she wants to pass on someday. </p><p>A comfortable silence stretches between them, and Daryl starts biting the inside of his lip again, like he's mulling something over.</p><p>"Could call her that," He says in a hoarse whisper, hiding behind his hair</p><p>Beth brushes the hair from his forehead, "What? Faith?"</p><p>“Mmhmm,” Daryl hums, eyes only wavering a little.</p><p>"Faith," Beth repeats.</p><p>"It's perfect," She beams, feeling her eyes growing hot again and fiercely blinking back tears.</p><p>"I love you," The words spill from her lips, lifting a hand to his cheek, and leaning up to kiss him.</p><p>She intends it just to be a touch of lips to lips, but Daryl's hand wraps around her wrist and keeps her there. She presses another, more lingering kiss to his mouth and her fingers curl around his jaw.</p><p>When she starts to pull back, he tugs her into his chest by her wrist, bringing her with him as he sinks back onto the pillow. Burying a hand in her hair, he holds her to him as though he’s afraid someone is going to try to take her from him. </p><p>His hands are gentle, but his mouth is a different story, hot and fevered as his lips move against hers, becoming more heated as their bodies are pressed together again. He kisses her, and keeps kissing her like he doesn’t know how to stop.</p><p>He doesn't say it back. Not out loud. But she hears it nonetheless.</p><p>She hears it in the little moan that slips from his mouth into hers when she parts her lips around his tongue. She hears it in the way he sucks kisses from her mouth with a growing ferocity as though his thirst for her is unquenchable. </p><p>She hears it loudest of all in the way he looks at her when they finally break apart, panting into each other's open mouths. His eyes are burning blue, trembling with his desire to be understood and seething with emotions he can't voice.</p><p>Her heart stutters as she catches a glimpse of what's raging beneath the surface, the ferocity of the need that's pouring out from under his eyelashes.</p><p>He loves her so fiercely that it's overwhelming, but the act of being loved by her is what really brings him to his knees.</p><p>Holding his searing gaze, she cards her hand into his hair, working out the tangles with her fingers. A shiver rolls through his body into hers as she rakes her fingertips across his scalp, eyelids sinking to half mast as he leans into her touch. </p><p>When Daryl starts to yawn, Beth leads him back to Rick's bedroom, <em> their bedroom</em>. They forgo the much needed shower and instead let their skin stick together with sweat and come so that every inhale is heady with the love they just made. </p><p>Back where he belongs, Daryl soon falls asleep, chest rumbling against her back and hot breath streaming across her cheek. Beth lies there, savouring the moment for as long as possible before she has to extract herself from the sanctuary of his arms to get up and go pee.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Shout out to SquishyCool who's epic face-sitting fic <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767100/chapters/54403414">Risk It All</a> inspired me to write this (I copy everything she does like an obnoxious little sister and she is kind enough not to mind). So please consider this the new bandwagon and your cordial invitation to jump the fuck on!! :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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